Chapter 21: Where Does His Confidence Come From?

Nanjiang is a city full of legends. In just a few years since the reform and opening up, it has transformed from an ordinary county town into one of the four major first-tier cities in the country. This rapid rise is closely related to its status as an economic special zone.

When Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing arrived at Nanjiang station, they followed the crowd out of the station. As soon as they exited the station, Zhou Ming spotted someone holding a sign with the name 'Lin Muqing' on it from a distance. He knew it must be Lin Muqing's cousin, Tang Ran. Lin Muqing had contacted her before coming to Shenzhen, and since Tang Ran had a day off today, she had come to pick them up.

Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing approached Tang Ran. Tang Ran was dressed in a white shirt and a red skirt, wearing sunglasses, looking like a trendy city girl, adding a vibrant touch to the station exit. There was also a man in a Zhongshan suit beside her, who was likely her boyfriend.

Lin Muqing stepped forward to greet her: "Ran Ran, you're getting more and more beautiful. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Of course! This is Nanjiang!" Tang Ran said proudly. Then she introduced the man beside her to Lin Muqing, "Muqing Jie, this is my boyfriend, Wei Hua. He's a local from Nanjiang, and his family runs a business. He earns a lot of money every month. If you need anything while you're here, he can help."

"Beautiful Miss Lin Muqing, it's a pleasure to meet you. If you encounter any difficulties in Nanjiang, you can always come to me. I will certainly do my best to help you," Wei Hua said in his awkward Mandarin. He tried to present himself as a gentleman, but his eyes kept wandering over Lin Muqing's attractive face and curves, and he seemed unwilling to let go of her hand, giving off a lecherous vibe.

Fortunately, Lin Muqing was used to dealing with such men. She withdrew her hand from Wei Hua's grasp calmly and introduced Zhou Ming to him. Wei Hua only gave Zhou Ming a nod and showed no further interest, clearly unimpressed by the man accompanying Lin Muqing.

Wei Hua said to Lin Muqing, "It must have been a tiring journey. I heard from Ran Ran that you've already booked a room at the Tianyun Hotel. I'll take you there first so you can drop off your luggage, then we can go have lunch. How does that sound?"

Lin Muqing was quite displeased with Wei Hua but didn't show it and nodded.

Tang Ran cheerfully linked arms with Lin Muqing and walked ahead, while Wei Hua and Zhou Ming followed. Wei Hua glanced sideways at Zhou Ming and asked, "Your name is Zhou Ming, right? Are you here to find work? What kind of work can you do? I can help you find a job. If you don't have any particular skills, I can introduce you to a few foremen. Nanjiang is developing rapidly, and many construction sites are hiring."

Zhou Ming thought, Do I really look like a laborer? But he maintained a calm demeanor and replied, "Sorry, I'm not here for work. I'm here to do business."

"Business?" Wei Hua looked Zhou Ming up and down with disdain and shook his head, "You mainlanders always think you can come to Nanjiang and do business. You aim too high. Do you think there's money lying around here? In my opinion, you'd be better off working on a construction site. I can talk to the foremen for you. You could earn over 200 yuan a month. It's more than you'd make in the mainland."

The wages in Nanjiang were indeed much higher than in Nanhui County, but Zhou Ming wasn't interested in such meager earnings. He had no interest in explaining further to Wei Hua and simply said, "No, thank you."

Wei Hua asked deliberately, "We'll take a taxi to the hotel. Do you know what a taxi is?"

Zhou Ming frowned. Wei Hua had been flaunting his Nanjiang superiority since they met, and now he even questioned whether Zhou Ming knew what a taxi was. It seemed like regional discrimination. After Nanjiang was designated as an economic zone, its rapid economic development had given its people a natural sense of superiority over others. Zhou Ming found this regional arrogance very distasteful but chose to keep his feelings to himself, considering he might need Tang Ran's help in the future.

"Yes, we have taxis in Linyang too," Zhou Ming replied.

"Really? So you've taken a taxi before? I didn't expect people from Jingchu to have that capability. Isn't it a bit extravagant?" Wei Hua said exaggeratedly, as if it were a great wonder, and Zhou Ming ignored him.

Wei Hua took Zhou Ming, Lin Muqing, and Tang Ran to the hotel by taxi. After Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing had settled their luggage, Wei Hua took them to the Dongmen area.

When Zhou Ming got out of the car and looked up at a huge M-shaped sign, he asked Wei Hua in confusion, "You said you were taking us to a different kind of restaurant, and it turns out to be McDonald's?"

"You know McDonald's?" Wei Hua seemed surprised, "This is a world-renowned fast food chain. It has just entered the domestic market, and this is the first store in the country. You probably don't have it in Jingchu. I'm taking you to try Western food."

Zhou Ming almost laughed out loud. Wei Hua's words reminded him of jokes about McDonald's being considered Western food twenty years later. However, at this time, McDonald's had just entered the domestic market. As Wei Hua said, this was the first McDonald's in the country. To someone who had never seen it before, it was indeed a novel and trendy thing and could be considered Western food.

Entering the McDonald's restaurant, it was already crowded. Wei Hua told Zhou Ming and the others to sit down while he went to order. After a while, he brought back four cups of cola, four hamburgers, and a pile of fries.

"One serving each," Wei Hua handed a hamburger to Zhou Ming and deliberately taunted, "There are no chopsticks. I don't know if you can eat this."

Zhou Ming smiled, "Of course. In my hometown, if a family is too poor to buy chopsticks, they use their hands to grab the food."

Lin Muqing burst out laughing, clearly understanding that Zhou Ming was mocking Wei Hua. Tang Ran tugged at Wei Hua's sleeve, asking him not to make things difficult for Zhou Ming. Wei Hua's face turned slightly embarrassed, and he snorted, "Vulgar and unrefined!"

Zhou Ming ignored Wei Hua. He glanced at the fries and asked, "Did you not get any ketchup?"

"Ketchup?"

Wei Hua looked at Zhou Ming in confusion. Zhou Ming then realized that this was the first McDonald's in the country, and the habit of dipping fries in ketchup hadn't yet become common. Most people didn't know about it.

"Forget it, I'll get it."

As Zhou Ming stood up to go, Wei Hua grabbed him and said, "What are you doing? Don't take things without permission. It's very expensive here. You can't afford it."

"Don't worry, I can afford it."

Zhou Ming went to the counter and came back with four packets of ketchup, giving one to Lin Muqing and one to Tang Ran. Zhou Ming skillfully opened the ketchup and dipped a couple of fries in it, handing them to Lin Muqing and Tang Ran, "Try it. It tastes much better with ketchup."

Lin Muqing ate without hesitation, while Tang Ran tasted it with some doubt. Both women's eyes lit up, and they exclaimed in unison, "It's really delicious, tangy and sweet. It's definitely much better than before."

"Of course, because fries are high-calorie, deep-fried food, ketchup helps to neutralize the greasiness and enhances the flavor," Zhou Ming explained.

"Is that so? How did you know that fries go well with ketchup?" Tang Ran asked.

"It's common knowledge," Zhou Ming said. "Otherwise, fast-food chains like McDonald's and KFC wouldn't provide free ketchup for customers."

Lin Muqing noticed the key point in Zhou Ming's words, "Zhou Ming, you said the ketchup is free?"

Zhou Ming nodded, "Yes, you see, many people around have also taken ketchup. Wei Hua must be new to this and didn't know about it. The store didn't give it to him because they follow the principle of saving where they can."

Lin Muqing and Tang Ran looked at Wei Hua, who turned his head away awkwardly and muttered, "As if you've never eaten here before."

Zhou Ming smiled slightly, "You're right. This isn't my first time."

Of course, as someone who had been reborn, there was no way he hadn't tried junk food like McDonald's before.

At this point, Zhou Ming decided not to say more and quickly changed the topic, "Actually, as far as I know, McDonald's is just a fast-food chain. The real Western meal typically involves steak, salad, and wine."

"Really?" Tang Ran turned to Wei Hua and asked, "How about we take Muqing Jie and the others to have a real Western meal tonight?"

Wei Hua hesitated and didn't know what to say. Zhou Ming came to his rescue, "Don't make things difficult for him. A real Western meal is very expensive, possibly costing 100 to 200 yuan per meal,

 and you don't get much food. It's not worth it."

Upon hearing the price, Tang Ran's eyes widened, "100 to 200 yuan per meal? That's equivalent to Wei Hua's entire monthly salary!"

Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow, "Wei Hua's salary is only 100 to 200 yuan a month?"

Tang Ran nodded, and Lin Muqing scoffed, "It seems that the wage levels in Nanjiang aren't very high. Zhou Ming makes at least several thousand yuan a month from his business in Linyang."

"Wow! That much? Zhou Ming, you're amazing!" Tang Ran said admiringly.

Zhou Ming found Lin Muqing's cousin quite adorable, with a kind of natural charm that was amusing. He knew she wasn't being intentionally provocative, but her words inadvertently exposed Wei Hua's true situation.

Wei Hua's face turned dark. He felt like a ridiculous clown in front of Zhou Ming, his pride hurt. He had started by teaching Zhou Ming to work on a construction site but found that Zhou Ming earned several times more than his own salary each month. If that were the case, how could he possibly flaunt his superiority?

Wei Hua had initially acted this way to win Lin Muqing's favor, but now, she likely looked at him with disdain. Even if she didn't, Wei Hua felt he had lost face and had no choice but to leave.

Thinking of this, Wei Hua couldn't help but stand up and say, "Sorry, I have something to do. I need to leave first."